25 1980s Rock Bands That Should’ve Been Bigger

What 1980s rock bands should have been bigger?

Each of the acts on this list had varying levels of fame during the 80s. Some were as brief as being labeled one-hit wonders. Others had extensive runs of charting music that didn’t seem to be as big as you might think given the quality of their output. In some cases, there are reasons why their fall came about. But after a deeper dive into their music, we feel confident that the acts here deserved a better fate than what the ’80s dealt them.

READ MORE: Do You Remember These Forgotten 1985 Rock Radio Hits?

For instance, when you talk about the great female rock voices of the ’80s, who comes to mind? Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, Heart and maybe even Patti Smyth, but do you remember Rindy Ross, the lead vocalist for Quarterflash? How abut Martha Davis of The Motels? Both bands seemed on their way to big things in the ’80s but don’t often get mentioned as much in reflection of. the ’80s.

What about all the great glam metal bands that came out of the ’80s? Yes, oversaturation may have contributed to hair metal’s downfall as grunge took over in the early ’90s, but bands such as Autograph, Y&T, Bulletboys, Kix and Vixen were making solid music that likely deserved better than their brief moments of fame.

And what of the college rock conundrum? There was a period when alternative meant underground which made it harder to ever hear XTC, The Smithereens or even Fishbone on a commercial rock radio station of the day.

You know the big songs that commanded the radio in the ’80s, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some great rock bands with great catalogs that just never had their big moment in the public zeitgeist.

So join us as we flash back to the ’80s and give proper respect to some of the ’80s Rock Bands That Should’ve Been Bigger below.

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